Harriet Kemsley joins Rhod Gilbert’s Wagging Rights with Picsen
harriet kemsley is joining Rhod Gilbert and Picsen on Wagging Rights, the new UKTV comedy series built around celebrity dog training. The show will put five celebrity contestants and their dogs into a six-episode competition for the Wagging Rights trophy, with U carrying it later this year.
Rhod Gilbert and Picsen
Gilbert is returning to series work after a stretch defined by treatment and live touring. He was diagnosed with a little-known form of head and neck cancer in 2022, began treatment in August 2022 and got the all clear in 2023, making Wagging Rights his first comedy series since that point.
The format gives the project a clearer lane than a one-off special. Each episode will focus on a core skill, including obedience, scent work, agility, freestyle and ball sports, which means the series is built as a week-to-week competition rather than a loose celebrity hangout.
Five celebrities, six episodes
Harriet Kemsley is one of the named participants, alongside Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicky Pattison. The roster matters because the series is not selling itself on one household name; it is spreading attention across five contestants and their dogs, with each pair competing for the same trophy.
The six-episode run also gives the show enough room for progression, which is the difference between novelty and format. A viewer who tunes in for one skill test will get a structured contest, not a single stunt built around a punchline.
U later this year
Wagging Rights will stream on U on Channel 4 later this year, giving the series a platform before the end of the year. Gilbert has framed the project as a return with a purpose, saying, “Picsen and I are joining the wagging rights competition to show the world what a poorly trained dog and chaotic human can achieve.”
He added, “It’s what the world needs right now.” After a 180-date tour and more than £300,000 raised for charity in bucket collections, the move from stage to a dog competition looks less like a detour than a reset: a short-form TV format that keeps him visible without asking for another marathon run.
